Saturday Extra - Separate stories podcast

The Prime Minister is set to embark on an 11-day trip to the UK and US where its hoped he will have a meeting with US President Donald Trump.There's been a flurry of diplomacy already this month, with Anthony Albanese attending key events in the Pacific but failing to come away with defence and security treaties with Vanuatu and PNG. Arthur Sinodinos, who served as the Australian ambassador in Washington discusses the challenges.

World leaders will arrive at the United Nations for their annual high-level meeting this week. Although the UN is marking the 80th anniversary of its founding,  difficult issues will overshadow the gathering. Top of the agenda is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, climate action, global governance for AI, and a proposed restructure of the United Nations.

Cathy Freeman lighting the Olympic cauldron, then sprinting to victory in her ‘400 metres of reconciliation”. There was Thorpedo in the pool, Roy and HG, the volunteers, Kylie Minogue, Midnight Oil and INXS...A quarter of a century on from the Sydney Olympics, and some of the moments that helped define a nation are being celebrated around the country as we look back on what was declared "The best Olympics ever" by then President of the IOC Juan Antonio Samarach. 

As the Liberal Party continues to manage the fallout from Jacinta Nampijinpa Price's comments about Indian migration, we explore how the boundaries of politically permissible language have shifted over time; from the White Australia policy, through Whitlam-era multiculturalism, to Pauline Hanson's anti-immigration rhetoric and John Howard's dog whistles.

The real life drama of the Murdoch family's succession battle ended this week in a closed Nevada court. Rupert's eldest son Lauchlan will take control of the media empire that includes Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and The Times in the UK, with his three siblings receiving an estimated $1.1bn each for their shares in the business.The psychological workings behind ultra rich and famous families is a world not often entered, but how do these family feuds differ from our own?

Great power competition has returned. The head of geopolitics at Cambridge University discusses the history of how great powers emerged and makes sense of the current rivalries. 

Australia's history as a British colony is well known, but our history as a colonial ruler is less familiar.Papua New Guinea is a country of 600 tribes and 840 languages, and there were predictions that independence from Australia would come with violence, chaos and bloodshed. But despite all those odds, PNG peacefully achieved independence exactly 50 years ago. So how was this achieved, and what does the spirit of the independence mean today?

A 22 year old man is in custody in Utah, as the United States deals with the aftershocks of the public murder of political activist, Charlie Kirk. while on stage at Utah Valley University.Acts of political violence in the United States have become more frequent of American life, and there’s a long history. 

Blood is spilling across stages around the country, as an original production of Dracula pushes the boundaries of ballet.An adrenaline fuelled show with a plot you can sink your teeth into, this is ballet for the TikTok generation.Dracula features renowned dancers from Mariinsky Theatre, the English National Ballet, Queensland Ballet, Australian Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, and it is now touring Australia and New Zealand.

Melbourne Innovation Week has been buzzing with a debate about whether the relentless pursuit of “peak optimisation” is a blessing or a curse for society, asking just because we can try and perfect some things, should we?Does an efficient society necessarily make a happy one?